DR. FAUCI: CRUNCH TIME FOR VACCINE

Public skepticism toward vaccines is something officials will need to overcome once a coronavirus vaccine is ready for the public, Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Monday.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is working with Moderna on a potential vaccine, said there will need to be a campaign of community engagement and outreach, according to a report from KCRA 3 News.

"If we get a widespread uptake of vaccine, we can put an end to the pandemic and we can create a veil of immunity that would prevent the infection coming back," he told CNN.

"You have to do it by extending yourself to the community, not by a dictum from Washington."

The first Phase 3 clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine in the U.S., developed by Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, began Monday. Fauci called it "crunch time" for vaccine development, and said he's "cautiously optimistic" about the progress.

"We're trying to figure out does it actually work," he said. It will "take several months to determine if in fact (the vaccine) does work," he said. "To go from not even knowing what the virus was in early January to a phase 3 trial is really record time."

Fauci also told CNN Monday he may have been exposed to the virus. Fauci was in the same room as President Donald Trump's national security adviser Robert O'Brien "a week or two ago," he said. O'Brien, who has tested positive for COVID-19, has said he is experiencing "mild symptoms and is "self-isolating." O'Brien has been working from home since last week.

The Moderna vaccine is one of 25 in clinical trials around the world, according to the World Health Organization. Pfizer and BioNTech also announced Monday that they have begun a Phase 2/3 study of a coronavirus vaccine.